A quite remarkable true story about Ian G Brennan's
determination to recover from losing his furniture making busines

s
in a fire in 1984; to then discovering to
his amazement that he had a completely unknown, natural ability to be a
sculptor. Within five years of the fire Ian was official appointed the
Sculptor to the Most Noble Order of the Garter and Honourable Order of the Bath,
since then Ian has been commissioned to create 107 unique
sculptures in both wood and bronze for the British Royal Household.

Ian G Brennan has now been a professional sculptor and woodcarver
for over twenty five years and although he produces limited
bronze editions of his realistic sculpture, the vast majority of his work
is involved with a wide variety of highly detailed original
commissioned sculptures depicting many different subjects in a variety of
materials including wood, resin, marble, sterling silver and bronze.

Ian is one of those rather rare sculptors that both carves and
casts, his highly detailed realistic, naturalistic and heraldic wood
carvings, bronze and silver sculptures have been commissioned for Windsor
Castle, Westminster Abbey,
St Paul's Cathedral, Museums, Government
Buildings, Churches, Company receptions and private art collections all
over the World.

These commissions are as diverse as producing sculptures
designed to suite the history and splendour of centuries old buildings such as
Windsor Castle, Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral were his rather unique
skills in reproducing wood carvings and bronze sculpture from a by-gone age are
often required; to the more modern surroundings of Company
receptions and more recently the elegance and grandeur of the Grand Lobby
of the Cunard Liner Queen Victoria.

During
the past decade Ian's had been working almost exclusively to commission
therefore exhibitions in art galleries became a rather a rare event. Exhibitions
of Ian’s wood carving, silver and bronze sculpture he has
collected over the past twenty years have therefore been almost
exclusively set in the somewhat more formal surroundings of Museums;
The Queens Room onboard the Cunard Liner QE2; Carpenters Hall in
the City of London, Burlington House, Home of the Royal Academy of Arts and
within the magnificent historic setting of St George's Chapel in Windsor
Castle, where Ian has also been invited on a number of occasions to give fully
illustrated talks about his work and career..

Initially these commissions for the Royal Household were mostly
traditionally heraldic in design, often involved with creating the original
carved, painted and gilded Royal Crowns, Coronets and Crests for the newly
installed Ladies and Knights of the Garter, along with the carved and painted
Crests for the newly installed Knights of the Bath.

However from 1993 onwards these commissions for the Royal Household
also included creating a wide variety of private sculptures in both wood and
bronze. These private commissions now account for around a third of the time Ian
spends working for the Royal Household.

Many of these private commissions for the Royal Household are far
more realistic in design than some of the more traditional sculptures
commissions Ian also receives, all of which are created in fine detail. The
subjects also often vary from the more traditional heraldic sculptures, such as
Royal Lions, Griffins and Unicorns; to subjects more naturalistic in style and
include lifelike sculptures of Dogs, Pheasants and Horses, as well as wide
variety of sculptures depicting the human form.

For the most part these commissions Ian receives for the Royal
Household are usually quite evenly spaced out throughout the year and he is
often found working on several totally different sculptures all at the same
time, however on occasions one of these sculptures is required more urgently and
therefore has to take precedent over the others. Although the sculptures are
usually commissioned well in advance on one recent occasion in particular, a
sculpture was commissioned in late February for a service to be held in a few
months time in Westminster Abbey and was completed and delivered just days
before the service took place.

Seventy three of these one hundred and seven commissions Ian has
received to date from the Royal Household are currently on public display
in Westminster Abbey and Windsor Castle. As well as commissions for the British
Royal Family, there have also been a wide variety of unique
commissions for other Royal Families including HM King Juan Carlos of
Spain, HM King Harald V of Norway, HM Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and
His Imperial Majesty Emperor Akihito of Japan.

These diverse commissions for the Royal Household can also be well
illustrated when Ian’s was recently commissioned to create sculptures of
a Stag, Labrador and a Mute Swan along with the Royal Crest and Sword for HRH
Prince William of Wales; The Duke of Cambridge. Ian was also informed by HM The
Queen at Windsor Castle that HRH Prince William was now to become the 1000
Knight of the Garter to hold this the highest order of chivalry, since 1348.

Ian G Brennan's has also received commissions for other members of
the Royal Family include a pair of similar sculptures created for HM The
Queen's two sons, HRH Prince Edward, The Earl of Wessex and HRH Prince
Andrew, The Duke of York when they were appointed Royal
Knights of the Garter along with the gilded Coronet for HRH Princess Anne the
Princess Royal when the princess was made a Lady of the Garter..

To view the short
11 minute movie showing Ian at work, using 'Internet Explorer' directly
on the page, please click
here

Phoenix
Rising

by

Suzanne
Cavill

click
to enlarge

What a difference a decade can make; after ten years of hard
work Ian G Brennan had built up his own successful
furniture making furniture, however with a full order book, plans
to expand and about to take on new staff this was all to
dramatically change when his workshop and the contents were totally
destroyed in a fire. Worst was to follow when Ian later discovered there was a
problem with his insurance cover which meant he was uninsured and had lost
everything in the fire.

This problem with the insurance proved to
be just the start of Ian's troubles, although his customers
who's orders were lost in the fire were very understanding and were
prepared to wait for their furniture and new kitchen orders to be
replaced, his Bank who he had an account with for nine years were
not. Ian's first task was now to try and find a new
Bank who would consider taking over his overdraft facility
and also give him a bit of a breathing space to enable
him to stay in business. Without any assistance from his own bank he
obviously could now no longer afford to replace his tools and equipment, pay his
bills let alone now try and find the rent for a new
workshop. Ian simply had no choice but to clear him a space
amongst the rubble, borrow some electricity from a friends adjoining
workshop, replace the burnt out telephone, hire some tools and start again.

Click to enlarge

Coming
of age:

At 4.47am on the 7th May 1984, Ian G Brennan was
awoken just before dawn by a loud banging on his front door. A police
officer had come to tell him that his business had been totally
destroyed in a fire and could he meet with him as soon as possible at the
workshop. When he arrived at his workshop shortly afterwards which was just a
few miles from his home there were two fire engines an ambulance and the
police office in his car, parked near to where his workshop once used to be.

The whole building had been burnt completely to the ground,
although his heavy woodworking machines were still there they
had partially melted in the intense heat and was still glowing red hot
in the dawns early light. The large caravan which had been parked
alongside Ian's workshop for many years which had been used by
the all the small businesses near his workshop as a rest room was believed to be
the source of the fire, someone was believed to have left the electric
fire on over night which subsequently set fire to his and an adjoining
workshop.

All his completed furniture, designs and templates,
machinery, tools, prepared timber and a completed solid oak kitchen
awaiting delivery had all been destroyed in the fire. Worst was to come, as
he was later to discover there was now a problem with his
insurance cover for the workshop, which meant he was uninsured and had lost
everything in the fire. Ironically as it turned out the new workshop Ian
was planning to move into just four days later was fully insured
but empty.

The
remains of the fire damaged workshop and what £25,000 worth of completed
furniture orders, designs, machinery and tools look like after a fire.

please
click to enlarge

Some
ofthe furniture Ian had been working
on just before the fire had fortunately been
removed earlier from his workshop and delivered to the customer.
These included the majority of the solid mahogany units
Ian had built for the Galley of the J
Class Yacht 'Velsheda' which was shortlyto
take part in the Tall Ships race, although unfortunately some of
these mahogany units for the Velsheda’s
galley were still in the workshop awaiting delivery and
were consequently destroyed in the fire. Several weeks earlier Ian
had decided to removed the two huge cedar logs that he had been
seasoning inside the workshop outside, to give him a bit more room so he could
not only set out the Velsheda's galley but also the solid oak
kitchen he had also been working on.

These hundreds of square feet of
high quality cedar wood timber were fortunately now seasoned and safely
stored away, as it turned out far enough from the workshop and although a little
charred on the edges, were undamaged in the fire. He at least still
had a supply of timber to use for many of his projects, even if he now
no longer had the tools, woodworking machinery or most importantly a
workshop to put it all in.

Part
of the mahogany units Ian had built for the galley of the J Class Yacht
Velsheda

"During the early afternoon on the day of the fire, the
remains of the workshop had cooled down sufficiently enough so we
could start scouring through the debris on the floor of the workshop
trying to salvage anything of value that I either
use or be sold as scrap metal. I then noticed to my amazement although many of
my tools and heavy metal woodworking machinery had melted or were bent and
twisted in the intense heat of the fire, a small section of a the remains of a
wooden roof beam although charred on the outside had strangely burnt to a rough
shape resembling a leaping dolphin, after showing my wife the unusual piece of
burnt wood, I put it to one side for a moment and continued to search through
the rubble".

When Ian eventually got home one of the first things he tried to
do was to contact as many of his customers he could to inform
them of his current difficulties and that unfortunately there would now
be a delay in re-making their orders. He managed to contact all
except one of these customers who with out exceptions were
very sympathetic and just as importantly were willing to
wait for their furniture orders to be rebuilt. "After contacting
the customers and subsequently securing these orders knowing
I still have work and potential money coming in. I made
an appointment with my bank manager who fortunately I had good
working relations with for many years. I was not asking to
borrow a lot more money, I was just hoping to borrow enough money to
enable me to hire some tools and materials for a few weeks and also if
possible perhaps for the bank to honour my standing orders just
for a few months until I could get things sorted out."

The bank manager at his local branch was like his customers,
very sympathetic and said he is however obliged to inform the banks
head office and would get back to him shortly. Whilst Ian was waiting to hear
back from the bank he and his wife Suzanne spent the next few days
continuing to shift through the remains of his burnt out workshop
trying to find anything they could salvage from the fire.

Just a few days after the meeting with my bank manager the eagerly
awaited letter from the Banks head office arrived at my home. On
opening the letter, initially the wording of the letter appeared quite
sympathetic however the letter soon became less than friendly
with the more sinister undertones quickly becoming apparent. The
letter concluded with the very clear message which basically meant,
as I would appear to be know longer in the position to honour
my monitory obligations to the bank, that if all my borrowings now
owed to the bank was not repaid within seven working days, the bank would
start proceedings without further notice to reprocess my home.

After
losing his workshop in the fire, then discovering he was no longer insured and
consequently having no money and obviously now no support from
the bank, any thoughts of moving as previously planned into another
workshop quickly disappeared.. The person who Ian was renting the
workshop from decided he would not rebuild it and he would instead, once the site was cleared of the debris, use
the space for much needed parking for the nearby businesses. He said however he
was in no particular hurry and I could stay there working for a while
if I wished, however he said if I did decided to rebuild a workshop on
the site he would have to charge rent for it, which was fair enough.

Ian working
alongside the two surviving stacks of Cedar wood timber

"The owner of the site of the workshop was
also quite happy for me to build some sort of make shift shelter
leaned up against the neighbouring workshop wall for a time which was most
helpful. The adjoining workshop dropped over an electrical cable
so that I now had light and power which enabled me to then hire some wood
working power tools to start again. The destructive power of the fire
was however total, virtually nothing usable remained intact. The
whole contents of his workshop were worth around £ 25,000, a rather
large amount of money today, but over twenty years ago more so.
Everything including the many huge three phase wood working machinery
was worth just £ 96 in scrap metal"..

The following morning Ian was up early to the site as the scrap
dealers were due to start collecting the remains of the heavy machinery, a few
hours later the burnt out machines were gone and anything worth salvaging was
either sold as scrap or stored away in a friends nearby workshop.
The £ 96.the scrap dealers had given Ian was not a lot, but it was
enough to be able to now hire some wood working tools which would
enable him to start work on producing the customers orders
once again..

Although Ian had tried on several occasions the one customer he had
not yet not manage to contact about the fire, was the married couple
who had patently waited for their hand made oak kitchen to be completed. It had
taken Ian many months of work to complete all the beautifully
crafted solid oak kitchen units and work surfaces. The customers had
seen the kitchen a few days before the fire, which was completed and
awaiting delivery and fitted in their home the following week. As with
most of his orders Ian received a deposit and stage payments which enabled
him to not only to purchase the materials, but to also work on constructing
the fitted kitchen.

This particular customer at this
stage had paid Ian £ 3,000 in stage payments out the £ 5,000 total
cost of the oak kitchenand the
customers were obviously eagerly awaiting Ian to deliver and install
their brand new kitchen. As Ian was busily erecting a small corrugated iron
roofed shelter to be used as his temporary workshop, a car slowly pulled up
alongside. The man in the car was in fact the same man who a week
earlier was admiring his completed oak kitchen. He stopped the car and
after looking at the ruins of the workshop, wound down the window and
simply said "It wasn't in there
was it?" I replied "I am afraid it
was". As he got out of his car and walked towards me he
asked me what was going to do now. I explained the problems
I was now having with the bank and the insurance, but just as quickly I
said that if he would again be patient and allow me the time, I
would rebuild his new kitchen as soon as possible.

"I
was at this stage no doubt just like the customer, acutely aware of the £
3,000 deposit he had already paid and he had the receipts to prove it,
along with my intention to complete the kitchen about this
time. He turned around without saying a word and walked back to his
car, after a few moments he retuned and handed me a piece of paper. He said
" I see you have a few problems so here is a further advance towards
our kitchen,. it was a cheque for £1,000. he continued "we are prepared to wait
for the kitchen a bit longer, hope this might help keep the bank
of your back for a while." I was completely taken aback,
here was a relative stranger handing me a £1,000 life line and the bank I have
been with for almost a decade were desperately tying to do the complete
opposite.

One
of Ian's early carvings being carved in the remains of his old workshop

"Although I still had a full order book with many
months of work as the bank was being very difficult I knew I
would have to try and finding another bank, although it was obvious under
the circumstances trying to find a new bank which would take over
my overdraft would prove to be difficult". In the
nearby Town Ian decided to make appointments with as many different banks
as possible all on the same day, starting from one end
of the Town to the other. These appointments were evenly
spaced out at roughly hourly intervals starting at 10.00 am,
with the last appointment which he hoped he would be able to
cancel at 3.00. pm.

"Some interviews with the different bank managers turned
out to last longer than others but the results were unfortunately
still the same, "I am sorry but we cannot help you", it
appeared a lot of British Banks only lend you money if you do not
need it. After several disappointing interviews things started to
look rather bleak, fortunately however the second to last Bank left on my
list finally agreed to take over my overdraft and just
as importantly allowed me a three months break from loan
repayments. This would enable me the vital time needed to try and sort
the business out.

"On tidying up the last pieces of his old workshop amongst the
rubble on the workshop floor I once again came across the old burnt piece of
wood which I had found on the day of the fire. Using my pen knife and one of my
old wood rasps its wooden handle I had found on the floor early, I soon cleared
away the burnt wood on the beam and eventually complete what the fire had
started." Ian explained, I had never tried to carve anything in wood
before, but before to long the dolphin was completed. My wife suggested perhaps
I try and carve and identical dolphin to see if the first carving was just a
fluke."

"I found working on the carving
quite therapeutic it helped to take your mind of things a bit. My wife reminded
me that I had a set of carving chisels somewhere in the garage at home that
might now be of use, these chisels were purchased in a job lot of woodworking
tools at an auction some years earlier but I had never found a use for them.
Although they were old and had see better days, they were of good quality and
soon sharpened up well. They were proving to be very useful and soon got used to
working with them, especially as they were now the only woodworking tools I
possessed..

Ian's first
two woodcarvings

The first wood
sculptures Ian carved were a pair of' Leaping Dolphins ' at 6 inches
high and an Otter at 8 inches high, both of which he has
retained. Although Ian obviously does not consider these first sculptures
his finest work, they are however his first attempts at woodcarving
which was to become the beginning of his new career as a sculptor, now
working in wood, marble, resin, sterling silver and bronze.

Further woodcarvings
quickly followed simple sculptures at first but soon much larger and more
complex pieces started to appear, now all being carved from a single piece of
wood. During the first year or so Ian was obsessed with carving almost anything
and in any material he could find. It felt as if he was almost trying to make up
lost time perfecting his new found skill, even when he got home this
experimentation even extended to producing a simple 'Donald duck' sculpture made
from snow in his front garden.

Snow
carving of 'Donald Duck'

Ian continued to push his then unknown wood carving boundaries
forward all the time limited only by his imagination and the size of timber he
could find and afford. He soon discovering that he would appear to have a
natural ability to see three-dimensionally and therefore see the finished
subject trapped inside the block of wood or stone, he just simply set them free.
He always had a particular passion for wildlife especially after spending so
many happy times when he was very young wandering around the jungle near his
former school near Changi in Singapore and shared his pack lunch with the wild
Gibbons that over the months had gradually grew in confidence to come close
enough to share his lunch. Ian's father was stationed in Singapore whilst
serving in the Royal Marines

As Ian was totally self taught as a wood carver he had to try
and learn how to use carving tools and also the various techniques required,
simply by trial and error. Particularly difficult was the challenge of trying to
carve many totally different subjects in fine detail all from a solid block
of wood which leaves no room for mistakes. Two of Ian's early
experimental wood carvings were the 'Serengeti scene' which was a
sculpture depicting many types of African animals which were all carved
together from a solid blocks of lime wood, these animals included lions,
hyenas, hunting dogs, vultures etc. The other experimental wood carving was
to be a version of Michelangelo's David, both were chosen not only as
the subjects were totally different but also the technique required to work on
both sculptures would require a totally different approach.

Ian started taking more interest in some sculptors work from long
ago particularly he feels the best sculptor of all Michelangelo. He found the
detail such renaissance masters achieved in their work most inspiring. After
visiting a local saw mill seeking their advice on the most suitable timbers to
carve, Ian was given a couple of large blocks of lime wood timber to practice
on. As he had a photograph of Michelangelo's famous David sculpture he thought
he would try and make a copy of it as best he could at the time.

Obviously as he hadn't been carving very long so was a rather
ambitious project, but he found he could learnt a lot trying to discover the
technique used in carving from a solid block with his new found carving
chisels. As working on reproducing the David sculpture was meant to be
a carving exercise and if completed could never be anything more than
a rather amateur copy of someone else's rather special creation,
eventually with valuable carving lessons learnt work on both the David
sculpture along with the carving of the 'Serengeti scene' were eventually
abandoned unfinished and now both carvings gather dust at the back of Ian’s
studio.

"Throughout this first year I had managed quite well in my new
'open planned' working environment although It was rather exposed to the
elements the weather did not effect my work to much apart from a few weeks of
snow, which unlike the rain managed to get in everywhere and then simply melt
underfoot, I didn't help either as I have never been able to function very well
in cold conditions. Although I got used to working under the temporary shelter
after a while, I badly missed my woodworking machinery especially the large
woodplaning particularly a few weeks earlier you could simply place a roughed
out piece of timber into one end of the planer a few seconds later with one just
pass through the machine the wood was totally smooth.

The same process especially making table tops now took me many
hours to complete planing the wood by hand. When I first started my business I
didn't have any good wood working machinery and was quite used to working
entirely with hand tools, however once you had scrimp and save for many
years and finally managed to get together some good woodworking
machinery only then to lose them this way and then having to go back
using hand tools, somehow made it feel much worse.

Without a proper workshop or indeed a showroom and having now
completed the customers orders that were lost in the fire, I had to find other
outlets to exhibit my newly completed furniture, although the
replacement phone now fixed to the remains of my workshop wall would still
ring with new potential customers, obviously
inviting these customers around to my burnt out
workshop would not exactly help to inspire the customers confidence in
my ability to be able to complete their order, so I had to find
some other way to exhibit my furniture.

"I decided to work from Monday to Friday
making the garden benches, coffee
tables etc, under my make shift shelter and on the
Friday evening before setting off home I would load up the van for an
early start the following morning. We would the drive into the country side and
try and find a suitable lay-by alongside a main road to 'set up shop'
for the day. Fortunately with all the passing traffic this often proved
quite successful in re-generating sales and orders for my
furniture ".

'Setting up
shop' for the day in a lay-by alongside a main road

Whilst waiting for customers to appear with all our
furniture set out along the side the road, Ian could
often be found sitting inside the van carving the animals
and birds from any old pieces of wood he could find.. Eventually when he
had completed a few carvings and slowly began to gain a
little confidence in his new found skills as a woodcarver he agreed to
his wife's repeated requests to display these woodcarvings amongst the
coffee tables and garden furniture. Slowly these wood carvings on display also
began to generate interest and woodcarving commissions were starting to
look a distinct possibility, unfortunately however the perceived distinct lack
of experience as a wood carver from many people at the time did cause some
difficulties with their confidence in him being able to undertake or indeed
complete a potential carving commission, which was quite understandable
considering he had only been carving for a few months.

Ian spent all his 'spare' time carving and soon found he
could carving quite quickly and soon managed to build up a
display of different wood carvings. This collection of carvings soon
led people to believe he had in fact actually been carving for a quite
a few years which were something Ian was quite happy to go along
with as soon as the wood carving commissions started to come in. Once
work on his furniture orders were complete for the day when he got home Ian
couldn't wait to start working on his wood carvings even to the extent
of sitting in front of the television in the lounge in the evening often
to the early hours of the morning witling away on some small
block of wood.

A larger order for furniture and various wooden fittings was
then received to completely fit out a new 'Wine Bar' with all the
wooden tables, chairs, benches, bar stools, garden furniture, bar top and
even carving the sign for the Wine Bar. This order soon enabled
me to move into new premises not to far away from my old
workshop. I could also now start to try and replaced a lot of the
lost tools and wood working machinery destroyed in the fire, including one
of my first purchases a good second-hand planing machine.

Ian was then able to move away from the various
lay-by's and started exhibiting his furniture along with his
woodcarvings in his new workshop, Country Fairs and Shows throughout
Southern England which proved to be very successful; "However
these new found skills as a woodcarver had started to take up much more
of my time and interest. It was then the local press, Television and
Radio, who fortunately rather liked the 'Phoenix from the Ashes' type
story and how he first got involved with carving.

This media interest started to generate a large amount
of free publicity which helped considerably in receiving new
commissions for my woodcarvings. I soon started to get far
more inquires for my carvings than for my furniture, so although I had now
rebuild the business my interest in making furniture had begun to second
place to my woodcarvings so I decided to let the furniture making side
of my business run down naturally and to try to concentrate all my
efforts on making a potential new career as a woodcarver."

"It was tough going over the next few years; I sold some
of the wood sculptures and just survived. Being self-taught meant I had to
learn from my mistakes and consequently I soon learnt a lot, but as I have
always spent my life working on the premise ….‘if all else fails,
read the instructions. I felt I was quite well equipped to cope, I
certainly hoped so". A local newspaper ran a full feature about Ian's
work which was spotted by a Gallery owner visiting friends in the area
who asked to see his work and consequently invited Ian to exhibit
his wood sculptures in a top gallery in Mayfair, London for a
pre-Christmas showing, Ian's first exhibition in an Art Gallery.
This exhibition fortunately generated a lot of interest
and was extended for a further six months.

Trying to get hold of a good selection of carving tools especially
good quality wood carving chisels due to the high cost was still a major problem
and holding up Ian’s progress somewhat. A friend told him she knew someone
that had recently retired and had started wood carving as a hobby for her
retirement and that for Christmas her husband had bought her over 200 hundred
high quality carving chisels of almost every size and style you could possibly
imagine along with vices, mallets, strops and a variety of sharpening stones.

Apparently after several months of effort the lady decided that
wood carving was really not for her and as she had seen an article about Ian’s
work in the local paper and how he started carving after he had a fire, asked
her whether any of the carving tools would be of any use to Ian. Although
everyone was quite aware of the value of the tools many of which were still in
the box and had never been used the lady insisted she would only except from Ian
what amounted to a rather nominal sum of money for the whole lot, it was indeed
a most kind and generous offer which was accepted by a very grateful Ian. Ian
now had all the carving tools he could ever dream of so he could now really
concentrate on quickly building up a collection of his wood carvings.

As the commissions for his woodcarving continued and
making furniture quickly became a thing of the past it was clear to Ian if had
not had the problems with his insurance for the workshop that burnt down , he
would have simply moved to another workshop, replaced all the tools and
materials lost with the insurance money, put the burnt piece of wood shaped like
a dolphin to one side for a moment and would have then no doubt promptly forgot
about it in the frantic effort to get back making furniture and would probably
still be making furniture today and would not have carved anything.

Sleeping
Lioness' 'Mother Nature' - Scots Pine
Log

Early wood carvings

Further exhibitions in many prominent art galleries
thought England followed and a few years later the Museum Service toured a
larger collection of Ian's realistic wood sculptures to many different
Museums across Southern England. This one man exhibition of
Ian's work were mostly of wildlife subjects all carved
in fine detail with many of the sculptures being life size, such
exhibitions helped to get Ian establish in the Art World.

"Woodcarving can and often is a relatively slow
process just using hand chisels and a mallet, although Ian initially starts work
on a large sculpture with a chainsaw to remove as quickly as possible the
larger sections of wood, it still often takes quite some time to
produce a large sculpture, therefore collect together a good
exhibition of wood sculptures which can show all the various aspects
of my work takes time and therefore money to build up." Although
working on commissions was and still is where most of my time
is spent, in the early day it did prevent
me from getting a large collection of different sculptures
together for such exhibitions. The only way forward was now to try and
reduce the amount of commissions I undertook and try to concentrate
spending more time on building up some special exhibition pieces.

Ian and his wife decided in the end that the only way he could
possibly get a large collection of wood carvings together for exhibition was to
basically take two years off, work around the clock on the carvings and as the
carvings were not going to be available for sale until after the first
exhibition, in effect try and work without any money coming in and simply go for
it.

"This idea of no longer making the time available to
produce furniture, cutting out commissions and consequently having
little or no income unfortunately eventually began to use up the
patience of my latest bank manager, so the search was on yet again to
try and find another Bank who would possibly help out. Fortunately
eventually, I found a new bank manager who agreed
to allow me the time and resources to work on producing a
large collection of wood sculptures for a major exhibition which had now
been planned the following year in London."

On occasions during this period, it was sometimes
still necessary to use some of the remaining supply
of seasoned timber and quickly make some garden furniture to sell
to desperately try to make ends meet. As the Transit van was sold
many months earlier to raise some money, my car an old Triumph Stag was
quickly pressed into service for a few months to take over the deliveries
of these occasional items of furniture, until this much treasured car also
had to be sold to help raise some much needed cash.

It took almost two years of working long hours, with no
holidays or days off before he finally managed to put together
this large and varied collection of wood sculptures. These sculptures
were again mostly of wildlife studies with
many being life size, these included an Osprey catching a Trout,
a pair of swimming otters, a running cheetah, a sleeping lioness, an Owl in a
log and a pair of golden eagles, one of which was in full flight,
all beautifully carved in very fine detail from Walnut, Tulip, Cedar,
Willow and Lime wood.

Several weeks to go before the all-important London exhibition this
large and varied collection of sculptures were finally completed. Ian
was then asked by two local art Galleries owners if he would be prepared
to loan these sculptures, one for a newly opened gallery in
Bournemouth and also a gallery in Romsey, prior to his exhibition in London.
They thought the sculptures would be a nice contrast to the wildlife paintings
and other sculpture they had on exhibition, they also hoped it
might help generating some extra publicity for the art
Galleries.

The exhibitions certainly did manage to generated a lot of Media
attention both pre and post exhibition; however not all in the way any of
us had hoped for. In the early hours of the morning the day the
exhibition was due to open, Julie the owner of the Bournemouth art gallery
phoned Ian to tell him thieves smashed down the heavy plate
glass of the art gallery broke in attempted to steal the
sculptures. Those wood sculptures that were not damaged when
the galleries heavy plate glass windows shattered and fell
down on top of them were then promptly stolen.

The vast majority of the collection he had worked so
hard on producing had now been either stolen or were badly damaged,
all those years of time, effort and expense Ian had put into his work had
once again overnight come to nothing. The police however who were on the
scene very quickly were very supportive and said they would do their
best to try and recover the sculptures.

Local
newspaper cutting

After getting over the initial shock Ian of two years work being
lost Ian then had the unenviable task of having to contact the London Gallery to
explain the situation and that the large collection of wood sculptures he had
promised them for their exhibition in a few weeks time were no longer
available. The London gallery although sympathetic were quite
understandably rather disappointed. This was to put back Ian's plans on a
further major exhibition in London again for a quite a few years to
come.

Fortunately however Ian’s centre piece of his wildlife exhibition
was a newly created life size wood sculpture of an ‘Osprey catching a Trout’
carved from a single piece of wood was not on view at the time in the
Bournemouth art gallery and was fortunately not stolen.

Osprey catching a Trout –
lime wood - 54 inches wide

Weeks later the Bournemouth Police who had done an excellent
job were good to their word and contacted Ian to tell him they had indeed
managed to get some of the stolen sculptures back and quickly returned
the large swimming otters which were a particular importance to Ian as they had
each taken a long time to carve.

Although Ian had lost most of his exhibition pieces he did at least
now have some carvings namely the Swimming Otter and the Osprey catching a Trout
which were then made available for the forthcoming exhibition in the art gallery
in Romsey.

After all the worry and disappointment of the Bournemouth
exhibition the Romsey exhibition opened with a great fanfare with the various
exhibits created by a number of different artists fortunately being met with
great enthusiasm. Everything was in place for hopefully a good exhibition by all
when in the early hours of the morning during the first week of the exhibition
thieves managed to break into the Romsey art gallery and remove many of the
exhibits, including once again Ian’s Swimming Otter and for the first time
they also managed to steal Ian’s centre piece, the sculpture of the ‘Osprey
catching a Trout’.

If it wasn’t bad enough that two years work was lost, but now it
transpires that although Ian had purchased insurance to cover such losses, the
insurance company decided that it would in effect only pay out for the
"costs incurred when reproducing the sculptures, however this does not
include the profit element on your labour" ….. how much for a piece of
wood.!

Ian said "You couldn't help begin to think
that perhaps after all these years I should give up trying to work for
myself and get myself a proper job".

Copy of insurance letter

"With two years work on what amounted to my entire collection
of wood sculptures now either stolen or damage and now with the prospect of no
insurance cover it did make things rather bleak. It also put a rather heavy
strain on my latest bank manager, who once he was made aware of the situation
promptly advised me to take my overdraft elsewhere".

The search was once again to find a new bank manager this time a
bank manager who not only had a lot of optimism and deep pockets but also a
great sense of humour, a rather daunting and unlikely prospect but one that had
to be achieved with great urgency.

Fortunately however several weeks later and after many phone calls
and letters, the insurance company finally relented and paid the insurance claim
which helped the situation considerably. Although Ian badly missed not having
his large collection of sculpture available for exhibition which would have
enabled him not only to help get his work recognised but also hopefully to get
some commissions, it did however allow him the respite of continually worrying
about trying to pay bills and also having to continually write reassuring
letters to his bank manager.

Some time later the insurance company contacted Ian and told him
the police had once again recovered the four feet high otter wood sculpture and
that they would also agreed to Ian’s request for him to buy the otter wood
sculpture back from them.. Unfortunately however the’ Osprey catching a Pike’
and the ‘Owl in the Log’ wood sculptures are still out there somewhere…...

"Up to this stage the size of the wood sculptures I
produced were limited by the size of the trees I could find and obviously
afford". Also the largest of these trees I had hoped to develop
my skills on would have had preservation orders on them which prevented
them from being felled anyway. However fate was again to lend a helping hand
when Southern England was hit by Hurricane force winds, which uprooted millions
of trees. Overnight I had been given a large supply of massive trees, many of
which were donated free of charge by the local councils 'if I got them of
the road'. With help from a friend and by hiring
a lorry with a crane this task of hauling away the best of these
fallen trees kept me very busy for weeks, once they were all
stored away for seasoning, the timber was to last me for
many years to come."

"Up to this stage The
size of the wood sculptures I produced were limited by the size of the trees I
could find and obviously afford ”. Also the largest of these trees I had hoped
to develop my skills on would have had preservation orders on them which
prevented them from being felled anyway. However fate was again to lend a
helping hand, in October 1987 Southern England was hit by Hurricane force winds,
which uprooted millions of trees. Overnight I had been given a large supply of
massive trees, many of which were donated free of charge by the local councils
'if I got them of the road'. With help from a friend and by
hiring a lorry with a crane this task of hauling away the best
of these fallen trees kept me very busy for weeks, once they were all
stored away for seasoning, the timber was to last me for
many years to come."

The
first of these larger sculptures Ian started to experiment on, carved from
one of these huge fallen trees was a 10 feet high Life size Bald Eagle in flight
carved in one piece from within the fork of a 150 year old lime tree.(
shown above ) This sculpture was initially shaped with a chainsaw where
it had fallen as it was far to heavy to be move as it was to far
away from the nearest road, the tree having fell on the side of a
hill didn't help much either. Ian spent the first week working on the
sculpture during a freezing cold and wet January, trying to reduce as
much of the weight as possible so he could eventually carry the
massive roughed out eagle sculpture back to the comfort of his studio
for finishing off.

“
I built up a picture in my mind what the particular sculpture should
eventually look like, obviously the overall design of the carving is restricted
within the parameters of the log, however I tend to try and adjust the
particular pose the sculpture should take as I go along, not only to try
and give the sculpture a more flowing movement but also to enable me the freedom
to re-position the carving within the log if a flaw in the wood suddenly
appears deep down in the wood or, as is sometimes the case you
suddenly find a piece of rusting metal from some long lost fencing or
washing line hiding in the wood. Usually the first clues of this obstruction is the
rather pretty shower of sparks you see as the hidden metal object
quickly strips away the sharpened teeth of your chainsaw

"Although I didn’t have a customer for the Eagle and had not
attempted anything this size before spending a lot of time on the eagle didn’t
really make a lot of sense to most people, but I thought having been given the
tree to play with I just wanted to see if I could do it. As a chainsaw was not
in my carving tool kit I hired one from a local tool hire company and early on
Monday morning I started work cutting up the tree, I soon began to realise it
was going to take me a lot longer than I thought and the cost of hiring the
chainsaw for a few weeks was simply not something I could possibly afford to do,
therefore not being able to finish it was now a distinct possibility, which was
a great shame really because I thought it had potential and I was really
enjoying working on it.

At the end of the day as I drove towards the Tool hire company at
the Sedgensworth industrial estate in Hampshire where I hired the chainsaw from
I could see smoke rising in the distance in the direction of the tool hire
company, when I got closer the road was cordoned off by the police and I could
see fire crews damping down a building in the industrial estate, I then found to
my astonishment it was the tool hire company which had caught fire.

I parked the car up, grabbed the chainsaw and walked towards the
remains of the hire company. The actual part of the building were all the
equipment, tools etc was stored was completely gutted however the office
alongside was relatively undamaged. I was then approached by the manager of the
company who was walking out of the office at the time and seeing me standing
there with his chainsaw in his hands said "As you can see we have got a bit
of a problem here would you mind hanging onto the chainsaw for a bit as we
obviously haven’t got anywhere to put right now. We will have all your details
and I will phone you when you can bring it back, would you mind." Well what
can you do if you someone is having a bit of trouble you try and help out when
you can, so I said "Sure thing just give me a call when you are ready I
will bring it back, best of luck."

"It was over a month before the call came for me to return the
chainsaw which by now had not only had helped me to prepare the bulk of the bald
eagle which was now drying out in my workshop, but enabled me to rough out the
shape of several other large sculptures I had begun working on from some of the
other large lime trees that had been blown down in the storm winds I had also
been given."

"Carving
anything from a single piece of wood let alone a 10 feet high eagle in flight,
especially as I had not done anything quite like it before takes a lot
of concentrated effort, one mistake and a potential vital part of the
sculpture could be lost. It eventually took several months work
in my studio before the carving was finally complete in all its fine
detail, fortunately without any feathers missing. The eagle was then bleached
and stained to give a more true to life Bald eagle appearance".
( For the various stages in carving the bald eagle sculpture; from the tree
to the completed sculpture; please click
this link.)

Birds
of Prey sculptures, particularly eagles are Ian’s favourite subjects to work
on and are produced extremely realistically especially when they are carved life
size, attention to detail is rather extraordinary especially to the flight
feathers which can take hours to carve almost paper-thin, patience is essential
as there are obviously hundreds of feathers on each bird sculpture. To relive
the tedium during this stage he always tends to work on completely
different style of carving at the same time.

During
1990 the Museum Service in England toured a larger collection of Ian's wood
sculptures throughout the year to many different Museums in Southern
England. On this occasion this one man exhibition of Ian's work were
mostly of wildlife subjects all realistically carved in fine detail
with many of the sculptures being life size. Ian was also invited to
demonstrate his artistic skill at art and craft shows throughout the country
including such events as 'Art in Action' nr Oxford were the
artists and craftspeople are selected purely on merit, with particularly
emphasis on the skill and originality of design expressed in their work. Many of
Ian's sculptures were also exhibited in the museum 'Nature in
Art' in Gloucester when he was invited on a number of occasions to be the
'artist in residence'.

As well as a few setbacks he also
had some rather lucky breaks which he feels tends to even things out quite
a bit in the end." One of these lucky breaks was when the London Times
newspaper ran a feature about Ian's work which was also appearing in a
London gallery. A member of the Royal Household saw his work
and was so impressed by the standard of Ian’s carvings he was
invited to London to discus a variety of unique commissions for Henry V11
Chapel in Westminster Abbey and St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, two of
the most historical and widely visited buildings in England.

From that moment Ian never looked
back, within five years from the fire Ian was appointed ‘Sculptor
to the Most Noble Order of the Garter and Honourable Order of the
Bath’ and now spends around four months of each year on a large and
variety of commissions in both wood and bronze for the British Royal
Household

HM
The Queen with the Duke of Edinburgh processing towards St George’s Chapel for
the annual Order of the Garter service at Windsor Castle.

In 1989 Ian was officially appointed 'The Sculptor to the
Most Noble

Order
of the Garter and Honourable Order
of the Bath ' and spends on average five months
of each year on a wide variety of unique commissions for the British
Royal Household. These commissions include, forty eight carved, painted and
gilded Crests for the Knights of the Bath which were then placed in Westminster
abbey, along with thirty nine Royal Crowns, Coronets and Crests for the Order of
the Garter, which were then placed in St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle
when the latest Royal Knights, Ladies and Knights of the Garter are installed in
St George’s Chapel Windsor in June of each year, in the Order of the Garter
service, which is also attended by members the Royal Family.

One aspect of his work Ian particularly enjoys is
the frequent invitations he receives to both Windsor Castle and
Westminster Abbey, to also be able to attend these historic ceremonies
and to be involved in a tradition that has been going
on for almost seven hundred years. "I often either get a letter or phone
call from the Royal Household to tell me who the latest knights are to be
installed, but HM the Queen informed me herself about Prince William’s being
appointed as a Royal Knight of the Garter, when I was invited to Windsor Castle.
We also had a long chat about many things in particular the Order of the Garter
– Her Majesty is very knowledgeable. When I think about it, for twenty years
my father was a Royal Marine, I was brought up in many council estates and
military barracks all over the World, and here I was chatting away to HM the
Queen over a glass of wine in her own home at Windsor…. It’s just
amazing."

Ian
and members of the Royal Household at a champagne reception after The State
Opening of Parliament by HM the Queen

Heraldic sculpture is
like a picture language, full of signs and symbols that reflect someone’s life
and career,’ Ian says. ‘For example I carved a phoenix rising amid flames
from the Tower of London for Lord Inge, a former Constable of the Tower, when he
became a Garter Knight, and a blue badger for Lord Butler of Brockwell – brock
being the name for a badger.

The Order of the Garter is the oldest British Order of Chivalry,
founded in 1348 by King Edward III and reconstituted in 1805 and 1831 It’s
restricted to the sovereign, members of the Royal Family, 24 Knights or Ladies
Companion and certain foreign royals and is given as a mark of personal royal
favour to honour people in public office, those who have contributed to national
life or have served the Queen.

‘The technique Ian uses to
carve his heraldic sculptures is totally different than his more realistic
sculptures which are mostly carve from a single block of wood. The crests are
made hollow when possible to try and keep their weight down as they have to be
carried up a 20 feet high ladder one handed when they are put in in position
upon the Knights helms in Windsor Castle and Westminster Abbey.

To view a short movie showing Ian carving a Knight of the Garter Crest , please click
here.

Delivering the Princess Royal’s
Coronet - HM The Queen at the Order of the Garter Service at Windsor Castle

It takes Ian three to four weeks to carve each particular
crown, crest or coronet in his studio, working from the beautifully painted
one-dimensional water-colour designs he is given, which he then
transforms into an impressive three-dimensional lime wood carving designed
to last for centuries.

"One of the main criteria I was given by the member of the
Royal Household when I was first asked to produce this work, was that ' the
commissions will all be totally different so I must be capable of carving
anything' a rather daunting prospect at the time I recall, as I
had only been carving for just a few years". Also an added
pressure was the sculptures obviously had to be carved to the very highest
standard but also and had to be completed and delivered on time, as these
Crowns, Coronets and Crests were an integral part of the State Ceremonies
held at Windsor Castle and Westminster Abbey". Fortunately Ian has risen to
the task since 1989 although his ability has certainly been well
tested as each one of these commissions to date from the Royal Household is
indeed all totally unique.

The first of these sculptures for the Order of the Garter was to be
the carved and gilded Crown for HM Juan Carlos I of Spain to be placed in St
George's Chapel Windsor Castle this commission was quickly followed by a carved
and painted life size Heraldic sculpture of a Cockerel for
an Admiral of the Fleet for the Order of the Bath which was then placed in
Henry V11 Chapel in Westminster Abbey, these were the first two wood
carving heraldic commissioned from the Royal Household. One of
the more recently commissioned carvings he produced for
an installed Knight of the Garter was a ‘Phoenix rising from the flames’, quite
ironic really considering how Ian first started carving.

Ian delivering his first two
commissions for the Royal Household – the King of Spain’s Crown and the
Cockerel

These commissions for the Royal Household are often as varied
as carving, Regal Lions to Mythical Unicorns and State Crowns
and Coronets for Royalty and the Nobility from all over the World.
Carvings also range from Majestic Eagles, to Busts of Men and
Woman for Field Marshals, Admirals of the Fleet and Marshals of
the Royal Air Force. These designs also include other Animals, Birds
and Flowers for Prime Minister and other Heads of State, more recently
these commissions have included producing the 20 inches high carved
and gilded Chrysanthemum Crest for His Imperial Majesty Emperor Akahito of
Japan.

On 23rd of April each year on St George’s Day,
Buckingham Palace officially announce who is to be the latest recipient of the
Most Noble Order of the Garter, the highest honour the Sovereign can
bestow, a short time later Ian receives the detailed coloured
drawings to work from. These carvings for the Knights of the Garter are then
required to be completed in time for the annual Garter service held at St
George’s Chapel Windsor Castle in June the following year.

Fortunately these sculptures are usually spaced out quite evenly
over the year enabling Ian to work on his other private and commercial
commissions, however during HM The Queens Golden Jubilee year in 2002, fourteen
commissions were received from the Royal Household all within weeks of each
other which kept him extremely busy as they all had to be completed
and installed in time for both these historic services in Windsor Castle
and Westminster Abbey.

A small selection of the
over eighty five Royal Crowns, Coronets and Crests that have been
carved and painted by Ian G Brennan, before they were placed in both St
George's Chapel Windsor and Henry V11 Chapel in Westminster Abbey for
the Knights of the Most Noble Order of the Garter and Most Honourable Order
of the Bath.

top row - Lavinia, Duchess
of Norfolk - HM King Juan Carlos1 of Spain - Baroness Margaret Thatches
- Lady's and Knights of the Order of the Garter

These carvings
produced by Ian during HM the Queen's Jubilee year included a sculpture of
an Ostrich, Bobcat, Cornish chough bird and a Boar again all carved
from lime wood, painted and then gilded for the Knights of the Bath.
Commissioned for the latest Knights of the Garter was a Phoenix rising from the
Tower of London, a Hawk standing on a gauntlet and the carved and
gilded Crown for HM King Harald V of Norway,

A selection of the 39 Crowns,
Coronets and Crests carved and painted by Ian G Brennan between 1989 - 2009 for
the Royal Knights, Knights and Ladies of the Most Noble Order of the Garter
which were placed in St Georges’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.

For a 360° Virtual Tour of St Georges’ Chapel in Windsor Castle to 360° Virtual Tours 360° Virtual Tours view many of the 37 carved and gilded Crowns, Coronets and Knights Crests which have been carved, painted and gilded by Ian G Brennan during the past 22 years ; please
click here.

Carved,
painted and gilded Coats of Arms

Just
over a year after the fire destroyed Ian’s furniture making workshop, although
he had finally rebuilt his business, his newly discovered woodcarving skills
began to take priority over his furniture orders and slowly he began to wind
down the furniture making aspect of his work to concentrate fully on
woodcarving. In 1994 however on one commission, Ian was to combine both his
previous furniture making skills along with his carving expertise when he was
asked to produce the Pascal candle stand in carved in oak for the Alter in St
George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.

HM The Queen's daughter, The Princess Royal taking an interest in the relief woodcarving of the
village of Warsash in Hampshire UK which was placed above
the Vestry in St Mary's Church Warsash.

(
lime wood 10 feet wide )

Please click to
enlarge

Although Ian much
prefers in creating original sculptures in a variety of materials he has also
been pleased to be able to be involved in a number of rather special restoration
projects, none more so than when Ian spent almost a year carving from mahogany
the replacement starboard side entrance port on board 'Admiral Lord Nelson’s Flagship’
HMS
Victory'

Ian’s entrance
port then placed on the starboard side of the middle gun-deck of this historic
104 gun First Rate Warship which was originally built in 1765.

HMS
Victory was Admiral Lord Nelson's Flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar and is the
oldest commissioned Warship in the World. During 1989/90 Ian was invited by The
Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth in Hampshire UK to carve from huge solid
blocks of mahogany an exact replica of the original Starboard Side Entrance Port
on this historic warship HMS Victory, who's restoration is near completion..

A
NASA space shuttle crew visiting HMS Victory

It has long been said amongst Ian’s family many of which
including Ian’s father, have served in the Royal Marines and that one of his
ancestors Marine John Brennan was killed onboard Nelson’s Flagship at
Trafalgar. Although Ian was born in England his father was from Glasgow and a
proud Scot, his ancestors however originated from the Irish republic and lived
in and around Shannon the home town of Royal Marine John Brennan. It was
therefore quite ironic that in October 1990 Ian was commissioned to replace the
starboard side entrance port on Lord Nelson’s Flagship HMS Victory which is
now in dry dock in Portsmouth Naval Dockyard.

During 1991 whilst Ian was working onboard replacing the starboard
side entrance port amongst others, two large very old oak beams were removed
from the lower gun deck of HMS Victory during the restoration program. As these
beams were deemed in too bad a condition and therefore totally unsuitable to be
restored and returned to the ship these oak beams were given to Ian by the ships
crew to see if it were possible for Ian to produce ‘anything useful’ from
any of them, although they still contained within the remaining sound oak, old
hand made iron nails and copper bolts.

Over the coming years various woodcarvings and carved relief panels
showing the Victory in full sail were then carved in relief by Ian from pieces
of these oak beams and then donated to the crew to help raise money for various
charities supported by the ships crew including the BBC Children in Need
program.

Out of one of large oak beam Ian carved a four feet long Battle
of Trafalgar scene depicting HMS Victory about to break through the French and
Spanish allied line which is now on displayed on the middle gun deck onboard HMS
Victory. The other large oak beam removed at the same time was used to carve the
HMS Victory sculpture ‘Running before the Wind’ and although this model has
taken over 5000 hours of carve and looks very fragile being made of old seasoned
oak it is exceptionally strong.

One of Ian’s recent commissions from the Royal Household was to produced the
carved and gilded Royal Crest and Knights Sword for HRH
Prince William when he was made a Knight of the Garter in 2007, a piece of
HMS Victory oak taken from the Victory sculpture was placed into the hilt of HRH
Prince William’s Garter Knight sword which is now on display in St George’s
Chapel in Windsor Castle.

HRH Prince William’s carved Knight of the Garter
Royal Crest and Sword

Traditionally since 1348, the latest Knights of the Garter have their carved and gilded Crest and Sword created and they are then placed above the stall (seat) were they are entitled to sit in St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. Ian was officially appointed the sculptor to the Most Noble Order of the Garter and Order of the Bath in 1989 and has since then been commissioned to create all the Royal Crowns, Coronets and Crests for the Ladies and Knights of the Garter and Knights of the Bath .

Other restoration projects Ian has also been involved with include
working in ''Southwick House" at HMS Dryad,
which was General Eisenhower's Allied Headquarters in Southern England for
'Operation Overlord ' during WWII (where D Day was planned). During the recent
restoration of this historic building Ian was commissioned to repaired and
replace all the missing finely carved mouldings and detailed woodcarvings on the
huge antique mirrors and picture frames which have hung on the walls in this
magnificent historic mansion for centuries.

Ian was contacted by a prop’s buyer for the Granada TV company
making the ‘Cracker’ Television series who were looking for a wood carver to
produce an accurate woodcarving of a full size Falcon which was due to be filmed
in few months time. The props buyer said that the Falcon had to be carved in a
very specific way, as the script required the actor describing in great detail
the various aspects of the bird whilst he was working on it. As the Falcon was
required to be produced accurately, Ian started try and find preferably a real
falcon to look at or at least finds some good close up photographs in the
library, unfortunately without much success.

One morning Ian heard a real commotion going on in his back garden
and looking through his studio window he saw a flock of Rooks swooping in and
out of the oak tree in his garden and making an almighty racket. On looking up
high in the tree Ian could make out the shape of a large bird caught up in the
tree, on closer inspection to Ian’s great surprise it looked very much like
the type of falcon Ian was desperately looking for as research for his carving
caught in the branches by the Jessie attached to its leg.

What to do… The Rooks eventually left the falcon alone and as it
was clear the bird was going nowhere Ian phoned up the RSPCA and asked if anyone
had reported a Falcon missing, they took Ian’s phone number and said they
would get back to him. A short while later the RSPCA phoned back and said a
falcon had indeed been reported missing a few days earlier and they asked could
the owners come straight over and have a look.

An hour or so later the owners of the Falcon arrived at Ian’s
home and on looking up into the oak tree to their obvious delight they realised
they had at last found their missing bird which they said days earlier had not
returned from an exercise flight in the country side.

The problem was the bird was well and truly caught high up in the
oak tree the Jessie that was attached to its leg and couldn’t be reached
without assistance. The owner said would you mind if I use the phone and see if
the local Fire brigade could help in any way. Although they knew it could not be
classed as an emergency the fire brigade kindly offered to come over and help
rescue the bird, they said graciously they would use it as a training exercise.
With the falcon safely rescued, the delighted owners said I could now have as
much access to their bird anytime to help with my research for the carved falcon
commission.

The near completed carved
lime wood Falcon – The actor working on Ian’s Falcon

Over the years many Art galleries particularly those in London had
suggested perhaps Ian might consider producing some bronze sculptures to
exhibit alongside his woodcarvings as the contrast between wood and
bronze would be rather effective in future exhibitions. Also the
prospect of being able to produce several limited editions from one sculptures
rather than a one off wood carving made perfect sense especially for the art
galleries. Although the though had a curtain amount of appeal to Ian, he was so
busy producing his woodcarvings the idea of stopping his rather hectic
carving schedule to experiment with a totally different
medium did not really appeal to him at all and the idea of him also working
in bronze was eventually abandoned.

"However fate was again about to take hand, almost literately
one afternoon when in 1996 Ian had a moments carelessness putting the finishing
touches with a chainsaw to the crest of the wave on the base of the 'Osprey
catching a pike' wood sculptures he was working on which caused serious injuries
to the tendons in his left hand. The severing of the one of the tendons and
seriously damaging another prevented him from holding carving chisels and
therefore working for several months. The blade of the chainsaw hit the back of
his hand and then quickly bounced of the metal casing of his watch which
fortunately prevented more serious injury to the hand. Although I am right
handed the left hand is the clever one that holds and moves the chisels the
right hand merely holds the mallet."

Ian was quickly taken to the hospital were luckily the exceptional
skill of the surgeons and staff in the local hospital after a three hour
operation eventually repaired the damage. Ian then had to attend the hospital
for three days a week physiotherapy treatment throughout this period which
eventually enabled him to fully regain movement in his hand, part of his
treatment after his physiotherapy was also spent in the occupational therapy
unit workshop which was attached to the hospital.

The wood sculpture of the
'Osprey catching a Pike' carved from a single piece of lime wood

Amongst the equipment in this workshop at the unit was a wood
turning lathe something he had never used before, the subsequent lessons
given by a member of staff at the hospital showing him how to use this
lathe proved most useful, not only in helping him to gradually over the
months get the flexibility back into his hand which is the prime purpose of the
machines at the unit, but also learning how to make with the lathe
potentially wooden crowns and coronets for the future. These crowns were made
from the blank pieces of lime wood Ian started take with him into the
hospital therapy unit most mornings. "I originally used to carve all the
crowns and coronets by hand, but to suddenly now to have a wood turning lathe
and an expert to show me how to use it properly whilst I was undergoing
treatment was too good an opportunity to miss.

The blank pieces of lime wood
before and after

"I am afraid however I soon discovered, as also
did the staff and fellow patience in the unit that not all woodcarvers
make good wood turners. "As much as the instructor tried to show
me the correct way to use the lathe, after a while I would as often as not just
for a moment loose concentration and return to my old carving ways and
try to plunge the chisel in the spinning block of wood far too deep, with
often rather unfortunate consequences, a terrible bang was quickly
followed by frequently damaged pieces of wood or the
occasional broken chisels flying at alarming speed around the hospital
unit."

Eventually Ian's wood turning skills gradually started to
improve and over the weeks and months that followed, these blank
blocks of lime wood which he took with him each morning to the hospital
unit, built up to a rather large collection of wood turned to the
rough shape of Crowns and Coronets for future potential commissions for
both Windsor Castle and Westminster Abbey.

The first completed coronet Ian made from the lime wood blanks he
turned on the lathe was the coronet for former British Prime Minister Baroness
Margaret Thatcher when she was made a Lady of the Garter, the coronet was then
placed on display in St Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle.

The technique and tools required for woodcarving is
also total different to that required in producing bronze
sculptures. In you frequently start with a solid block of wood or
stone and then slowly remove everything that is not required for the particular
sculpture, obviously taking care not to remove something you shouldn't
until you accomplish the desired result. With bronze sculpture you start with
nothing but pieces of clay, wood, wax or plaster and slowly add the
material together to eventually create the sculpture you are after and if
you were to make a mistake you can simple add another piece of material
on.

Being unable for the time being to again earn his living
as a wood carver once again started to prove rather difficult
financially. Ian had until then finally managed after many years of hard work to
at last escape the financial burdens of the past, now once again being
unable to work things again started slowly to revert to the bad old days.
An article in a local paper however was drawn to his attention it was a
competition for artists in the area being run by Portsmouth's
City Council. Ian had never before exhibited any of his work in a
competition before and rather unconfidently was reluctant to do
so now, however the first prize of £ 500.00 especially at the present moment
sounded rather attractive.

After completing the application form the sculpture was delivered
to the museum and was put on exhibition alongside many other art works by
some very fine artists. A few days later much to Ian's great surprise
and obvious delight the Osprey sculpture which had been the cause of all
his current difficulties, won the first prize. The Osprey sculpture had suddenly
started to now earn its keep not only as a wood carving but later as it would
turn out as a limited edition bronze.

The accident to Ian's hand however had changed everything he
simply had no choice but to follow the Doctors orders and to put on
hold his many woodcarving commissions and therefore almost as a therapy try
to work in a much softer more malleable material which was more suitable
for his current situation. This way of working also helped
Ian to slowly regain full movement back into his hand. The first of
Ian's bronze sculptures was a small 'Elephant and calf ' made from clay which
could easily be modelled with one hand.

Ian was told by the doctors that although the injury to his tendons
were healing well and should eventually lead to a full recovery must
still not try and work again holding carving chisels with his left hand for
several months. As any savings he had were now long gone the possibility
of having these clay elephants now cast in bronze were very slim, it
is a rather expensive process having such 'master copies' moulded
and then cast in bronze, he thought it therefore rather pointless
tying to build up a collection of clay sculptures only for them to be left to
eventually dry out, crack and fall apart in the corner of his
studio.

He was then given the opportunity offered by the local foundry
to watch the various foundry craftsmen in their work preparing
other artists work, observing the clay master copy slowly being
transformed into a superb bronze casting. The techniques used
to produce the flexible mould and subsequently the replica in wax
which after many weeks in the foundry was eventually transformed in bronze.
All though he was unaware of it at the time all the knowledge gained in the
foundry process was later to prove invaluable in preparing his
own future bronze sculptures.

Ian's original
clay sculpture - 10 inches (24cm) long

10 inches (24cm) long

Several weeks after Ian's accident, friends of his
Terry and Judy Elson, who over the years had purchase a number of Ian's larger
wood sculptures arrived unexpected to his studio see what he was currently
working on. Ian explained why he had his hand in plaster and that as
he was obviously unable to carve at the moment, however
he take the opportunity to try modelling in clay instead and perhaps one
day also produce his work in bronze. Terry jokingly said when
they win the Lottery they would pay to have all Ian's wood
sculptures they now owned and the other sculptures Ian still had
in his studio, moulded and cast in bronze.

A few weeks later Terry and Judy retuned to Ian's
studio and explained to his total amazement they had indeed just won the
lottery, five numbers and the bonus, and true to his word they said they
now would have Ian's sculptures moulded and produced in bronze. The following
day a collection of Ian's original wood sculptures along with the elephants
were taken to the 'Phoenix' foundry in Southern England and moulds were
produced. Within a year Ian's had now built up a large potential
collection of both wood and bronze sculptures.

Elephant
with calf
- Osprey
catching a Pike

Ian's first two bronze
sculptures

The first sculpture Ian had produced of his
work cast in bronze was the small clay elephants, this sculpture were
then followed by the Osprey catching a Pike. The normal process in the art
foundry is that the artists original master copies which are usually
produced in clay are once moulded discarded as the moulding process often
damages the clay original. Ian's sculptures however apart from the
elephants, were all carved from a single piece of hard wood and he was
rather reluctant to say the least to have this original wood
carving destroyed during the foundry process.

The original wood carving of the Osprey along with
the first of the bronze limited editions

The skill of the foundry mould maker in particular was however superb and
over many months the craftsman managed to produce the necessary
high quality plaster and rubber moulds using my original wood carvings as the
master copies, all without damaging one single wooden feather. This left Ian
now with the rather unique position of having both the bronze casting along with
the intact original wood carving ,a process Ian has repeated on many
occasions on his other wood sculptures

All six wildlife
sculptures above three of which are life size, were originally carved
from a single piece of English lime wood or walnut moulded and then
cast in bronze or sterling silver.

The bronze and occasional silver
sculptures collection now also included many life size
sculptures including swimming otters, a mute swan and cygnets and leaping
panther'. Smaller sculptures included a leopard sleeping in a tree
and a pair of golden eagles'. One minute Ian
had built a reputation with his highly detailed wildlife
woodcarvings the next he was now able to build up an equally
impressive large collection of bronze wildlife sculptures. When appropriate Ian
still prefers to produces the original master copy for the bronze
casting from wood which is then moulded to produce the bronze sculpture.
This highly detailed original woodcarving 'master copy' can after moulding
be cleaned, polished and then retained.

Leaping
Panther carved from Walnut, cast in Bronze

Many hours of researching the subject
are undertaken using live studies whenever possible, but he also uses videos and
books until he has built up a complete picture in his mind of what the intended
sculpture should look like. Ian has a natural ability to see things three
dimensionally, which is extremely useful when he is carving one of his life
size sculptures from within the trunk of a massive tree.

The six feet high Osprey catching a Pike Bronze - the Risen Christ statue
and the 'gold tooth'

Ian’s over 300
commissions to date have been as diverse as carving a ten feet high Bald Eagle
for an American Corporation, to a life size statue of the Risen Christ for a
local church, a five feet high Lion for a Museum, to then carving 2 feet
high gilded tooth for outside a Dental Surgery. Ian has also been commissioned
to produce various ornate Trophies which include the Scottish Amicable Rugby
final Trophy held at Murryfield between Scotland and the Barbarians and more
recently a solid sterling silver trophy of a Marsh Harrier for the Royal Navy.

It is quite
understandable why Ian particularly enjoys producing his wildlife sculptures,
when wild Badgers, Foxes, Squirrels and Deer are regular visitors to his
studio often whilst he is working, on occasions they also bring their young with
them who can then be found running around his studio. These visits also gives
Ian the rather unique opportunity of studying the wildlife close at hand which
is often the subject of his sculptures, the studio being built at the edge of
woodlands in a nature reserve.

Wildlife
both inside and taken outside Ian's studio

Although Ian's furniture making days are long
gone the old skills learnt are occasionally still
put to good use, as he was commissioned to make the Pascal
candle-stand for St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. Made from oak and
designed to suit the splendour of this Medieval Chapel, the carved and
gilded oak Pascal candle-stand was completed in time to be lit in a special
ceremony by HM the Queen during the service at Windsor Castle
before it was placed in front of
the High Altar in the Chapel.

The Pascal
Candle Stand commissioned for the High Alter inSt
George'sChapel WindsorCastle.

carved
and gilded Oak - 65 inches high

Ian now often works on a
number of different sculptures in two separate studios built alongside
each other particularly when he is working in plaster which generated a lot of
fine plaster dust which gets just about everywhere. This
process going from one totally different sculpture to another
throughout the week enables him to see each one afresh. "The
total contrast between perhaps one day working on a crucifix made from
plaster for a bronze, to then perhaps carving from wood a gilded jewel
encrusted Crown for Royalty is what makes his work so
enjoyable".

The carved
plaster 'master copy' for a bronze Crucifix

St
George's Chapel in Windsor Castle

Ian G Brennan was invited to Windsor Castle to give
a talk about the various aspects of his work as a sculptor. The
informal talk which took place in the centuries old nave of St
George's Chapel which is not only one of the most revered hallowed
Royal shrines of the British Monarchy, but also one of the most beautiful
buildings of its kind in the world, rich in history and a place of
prayer.

This subject of Ian's talk was to be not
only about the large variety of different sculptures he has
produced for the Royal Household, but also how he was first to
discovered his by then unknown ability to be able to
carve, after his business was totally destroyed in a fire
and that he was totally self taught as a wood carver and sculptor. Although many
members of the audience in St George's Chapel at Windsor were aware that
Ian had created over thirty of the sculptures placed around the walls
of the Choir in the Chapel, very few were aware of how his career as
sculptor first started.

A
small selection of the variety of wood carvingsand
bronze sculpture by Ian G Brennan on exhibition in St
George's Chapel in Windsor Castle

After being introduced to the
audience in the Chapel by the Dean of Windsor at 2.00 pm, Ian
walked to the centre of the St George’s Chapel to begin his talk; he
then suddenly noticed in front of him a beautiful ancient fabric frontal
which covered the Alter; this Alter cloth was
richly embroidery with a stunning image of a
Phoenix rising from the Ashes.… the date Ian was invited to give
his talk at Windsor Castle also happened to be at 2.00 pm on May 7 which
was exactly 21 years to the very minute he first
discovered the beam that was burnt into a shape of a leaping dolphin
lying amongst the rubble of his workshop….... Ian had finally come
of age.

success comes easily, to others they have to work hard for it,
but to Ian it came as such a great surprise. No one especially
Ian who had no interest in art at school, would have thought that a fire
which totally destroyed his business would at the same time release
his dormant and then unknown natural ability to be a sculptor,
all quickly followed by many unusual and unexpected twists
and turns and not forgetting lucky breaks. He would then go on to
receive 107 unique sculpture commissions in both wood and bronze
from the British Royal Household and that his sculptures would then be
found in Castle, Westminster Abbey, St Paul's Cathedral, Museums,
Carpenters Hall and private art collections all over the World....

So if you also then add these amazing lucky breaks, a great
deal of determination with an unusual natural ability to be
able to teach himself to carve and cast a wide variety of different
subjects in many different mediums, Ian has now managed to achieved
things which he never realised he was ever capable off…. If only Ian could
have realised on that fateful day of the fire when he was digging amongst
the burnt out rubble of his business trying desperately to find
anything he could salvaging, that exactly 21 years later he would be standing in
St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle in front of such a distinguished
audience, talking about a new and totally unexpected career.